‘A woman is not a baby-making machine’: a brief history of South Korea’s 4B movement – and why it’s making waves in America

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In South Korea, a growing number of young women are rejecting societal expectations of marriage, motherhood and heterosexual relationships, known as the “4B Movement” or the “4 Nos”.

The “B” is a homophone for the Korean word bi (비/非), meaning “no”, representing the movement’s four principles: bihon (no marriage), bichulsan (no childbirth), biyeonae (no dating) and bisekseu (no sex).